Marijuana Reform Bills Pass in North Dakota and Alabama

Nikiya Carrero, writing for KXNet.com about North Dakota’s House greenlighting legal cannabis:

North Dakota Representatives gave the green light to recreational marijuana.

The House voted Tuesday morning to legalize marijuana for recreational use for adults 21 years or older.

This bill would also allow people to be able to possess up to “twenty-one grams of adult-use cannabis” every two weeks. It would not allow North Dakotans to grow their own cannabis. […]

The bill ultimately passed 56 to 38.

To become law, it needs to also get the approval of the Senate and a signature from the governor.

Meanwhile, WTVM reported on the passing of a medical marijuana bill in Alabama’s Senate:

The Alabama Senate has again voted to pass a medical marijuana bill, this time by a vote of 21 to 10.

The pending legislation would allow patients to legally use the drug if they’ve been diagnosed with one of about 20 medical conditions including cancer, chronic pain, and anxiety. […]

The legislation now moves to the House for consideration where supporters are more likely to face some heavy challenges.

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A Couple More Psychedelic Research Centers

Last week I linked to an announcement of COMPASS Pathways’ new virtually-distributed Drug Discovery Center, and this week two additional new psychedelic research centers were announced. Before I get to them, allow me to sneak in a link to yet another psychedelic research center that was launched early this month that I forgot to link to before—Massachusetts General Hospital’s new Center for Neuroscience of Psychedelics.

This week’s new psychedelic research centers will be based in New York and Jamaica. Here’s the press release from NYU Langone Health about the first one:

When fully developed, the NYU Langone Center for Psychedelic Medicine, under the auspices of NYU Langone’s Department of Psychiatry, will support health-focused research across the translational spectrum, from basic science to phase III clinical trials. Principally, it will have three transdisciplinary areas of focus: psychiatry, medicine, and preclinical research.

In addition, a robust training program, the Psychedelic Medicine Research Training Program—which differentiates this center from others—will support the development of early career faculty members and postdoctoral fellows to become independent investigators in the field of psychedelic medicine.

And here’s the press release in Psilocybin Alpha about Aion Therapeutic’s new Jamaica-based center:

Aion Therapeutic Inc. (CSE: AION) (“Aion Therapeutic” or the “Company“) announced today the opening of the Aion International Center for Psychedelic Psychiatry in Jamaica. The Center will initially specialize in the use of psilocybin for the treatment of addiction (tobacco, alcohol, and other drug misuse), depression and anxiety associated with life-threatening illnesses, treatment-resistant depression, and major depressive disorder (MDD). In addition, the Center will be studying the effectiveness of psilocybin as a new therapy for opioid addiction, Alzheimer’s disease, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and anorexia nervosa.

Just last month I mentioned that since there weren’t a plethora of psychedelic research centers that I would continue to highlight new ones when they open, and now it’s starting to appear that—just like pretty much everything else involving psychedelics over the past few years—these research centers went from few-and-far-between to ubiquitous and common in no time flat. At this point I will probably continue to highlight new research centers in my weekly roundups and monthly recaps here on Think Wilder, but from here on out I’m not sure it’s worth pointing out every single new center in link posts like this one.

This is following an overall trend in psychedelic news that I’m starting to really feel and am trying to figure out how to address. Essentially I have to ask myself the following question every time I come across a new psychedelic news story—is this a newsworthy event? Things that are considered newsworthy now are completely different than what would have been considered newsworthy a few years (or even a few months) ago. I see it as part of my job to highlight newsworthy items as they pop up, but I’m starting to get psychedelic news whiplash so I’m trying to re-calibrate what should be shared, and when and where to share it. Eventually I’ll strike the right balance, so thanks for bearing with me until then.

At any rate, I’m excited to see all four of these new psychedelic research centers this month and I’m looking forward their future contributions toward the body of psychedelic science.

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Psychedelic Policy Reform Bills Submitted in Vermont and Missouri

Two new bills were submitted this week that would increase access and reduce penalties for possessing psychedelics in Vermont and Missouri.

Ritika Dubey, writing about Vermont’s decriminalization bill for Truffle Report:

Vermont lawmakers introduced a bill in the state legislature on Tuesday, decriminalizing a range of entheogenic plants and fungi that are used for medicinal, spiritual, or religious purposes.

Rep. Brian Cina (P/D), Selene Colburn (P/D) and eight other co-sponsors backed the bill H-309, which is aimed at decriminalizing ‘certain chemical compounds found in plants and fungi’ including psilocybin, psilocin, ayahuasca, peyote and mescaline. If passed, the act will come into effect on July 1, 2021.

And Ben Adlin, writing about Missouri’s right-to-try bill for Marijuana Moment:

Missouri residents with debilitating, life-threatening or terminal illnesses could gain legal access to an array of psychedelic drugs under new legislation aimed at expanding the state’s existing right-to-try law.

A bill introduced last week by Republican Rep. Michael Davis of Kansas City would allow seriously ill people to use substances such as MDMA, psilocybin mushrooms, LSD, DMT, mescaline and ibogaine with a doctor’s recommendation after exhausting all other approved treatment options. It would also remove felony penalties statewide for simple possession of the drugs, reclassifying low-level offenses as misdemeanors.

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New Jersey’s Governor Signed Cannabis Legalization Bill Into Law

Amanda Hoover, writing for NJ.com:

More than three years after he took office with hopes of legalizing marijuana in 100 days, Gov. Phil Murphy signed three bills that together launch a marijuana industry in New Jersey and put an end to thousands of arrests.

But it took more than a marijuana-friendly governor to make reform a reality. There were years of failed legislative attempts, a ballot question that garnered more than 2.7 million votes in favor and three months of negotiations on tax revenue, licensing rules and the ultimate hangup that nearly killed the effort: penalties for those under 21 caught with marijuana.

Murphy signed the bills Monday morning without the usual fanfare, putting his pen to paper just before the deadline to take action struck. If he had done nothing, two measures seeking to launch a legal marijuana industry and to end arrests would have become law without his signature.

And with the stroke of a pen, New Jersey’s long, drawn-out cannabis legalization (and decriminalization) saga is finally over.

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MDMA Proves a Promising Alcoholism Treatment in World-First Trial

Rich Haridy, writing for New Atlas:

For the last few years psychiatrist Ben Sessa and a team of UK researchers have been exploring the role of MDMA therapy in treating alcohol use disorder (AUD). In a newly published study the researchers report on the world’s first trial testing the novel treatment on patients suffering from addiction.

This small, proof-of-concept study recruited 14 subjects with AUD. The goal of this preliminary study was to establish a safety profile for the MDMA therapy in patients suffering from AUD, but an expansive nine-month follow-up period also allowed for a unique insight into the possible long-term efficacy of the treatment. […]

In regards to tolerability and safety, the study reports no adverse responses to the drug were detected either during a treatment session or in the days following. In a fascinating side note, the study followed each subject’s acute mood state for seven days after each MDMA session. […]

Nine months after the trial only 21 percent of the cohort were drinking more than 14 units of alcohol per week. This compares to an average of 130 units of alcohol consumed per week by each patient before detox at the beginning of the study.

Impressive results from this first-of-its-kind study. And although this wasn’t a placebo-controlled trial, the researchers also conducted an additional study that explored how MDMA therapy compares to standard treatments for alcohol addiction:

Fourteen subjects were recruited and tracked for nine months following detox for this adjacent outcome study. A striking 75 percent were consuming more than 14 units of alcohol per week at the nine-month follow-up point. This data resembles the generally poor long-term outcomes for current AUD treatments, which register drinking relapse rates at around 60 percent one year after treatment and 80 percent three years later.

Not too shabby.

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